


The difference

by Just_doing_this_for_fun



Category: Dynasty (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Sick Character, Then vs Now, fallon and steven, fallon is sick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:21:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25048342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Just_doing_this_for_fun/pseuds/Just_doing_this_for_fun
Summary: One shot to show the difference of what could of happened when Fallon was sick in the past vs her being sick now.
Relationships: Fallon Carrington/Liam Ridley
Comments: 12
Kudos: 63





	The difference

Fallon groaned as her alarm rang, signalling that it was time to get up and ready for school. She had started to feel sick yesterday, but it was hitting her like a ton of bricks this morning. Knowing that missing breakfast wasn’t an option, she got out of bed, pulled her robe and slippers on before making her way downstairs. Her father was already dressed in one of his suits for the day, eating his breakfast at the head of the table, with Steven and her mother on either side of him. Fallon walked into the dining room and picked up a bowl, pouring a small amount of granola into it before adding fruit and yoghurt. She carried it over to the spot next to Steven and poured herself a glass of water. 

“That’s hardly a proper breakfast Fallon,” Her mother spoke. Fallon was used to her commenting on what she was eating, normally she was told to eat better, you never knew when your metabolism was going to slow down, so this shocked her slightly.

“I don’t feel like anything else,” Fallon replied, taking small bites. It wasn’t a lie -- even what she had in front of her was sending an already unsettled stomach closer to the edge. It wasn’t just her stomach; her throat felt raw and her head was pounding. At least taking sips of her water was slightly soothing to her throat.

“Are you okay?” Steven was the one to ask, looking properly at his sister for the first time that day. She looked pale, paler than usual, and there was a slight shake to her hands. This worried him, as both Carrington kids were good at not showing weaknesses and he could see how hard his sister was trying to conceal how she felt. But she couldn’t fool him, he knew her better than anyone.

“Yeah just, you know, headache, sore throat and feeling sick. I’ll be okay,” Fallon told her brother, trying to ease the worry that was clear in his eyes. Continuing to eat a few more bites before deciding she couldn’t handle anymore, she put her spoon down and pushed the bowl away, letting her head rest against one of her hands, the other holding her glass as she continued to sip her water.

“Steven, Fallon, make sure you’re ready to go on time, I’ll be dropping you to school today on the way to the office. Your mother is out with one of her groups all day so one of the staff will pick you up,” Blake instructed his children, standing up to go to his office and sort some stuff out, clearly ignoring the conversation that had been taking place at the dining room table. 

Fallon nodded before leaving her dishes on the table to go up and get dressed. She put on one of her comfier pairs of jeans with a sweater. A knock on her door brought her attention to the time. She needed to hurry up and get her bag, or she would be late to the car which would put her father in a bad mood. She opened the door to reveal Anders holding out a bottle of water and a few pills.

“Master Steven said you weren’t feeling well, so I thought you could use some Tylenol,” Anders said sympathetically, looking at the girl he considered a daughter. She smiled at him and took the tablets before sipping from the water which she then carried over to her school bag and placed inside, using this opportunity to sort out what she would need for the day and taking out what she wouldn’t.

“If you should need to leave school early, have them call me. I’ll send a car to pick you up,” Anders continued before leaving Fallon to her own devices. He knew she had inherited the trait of not speaking much when she was trying to hide how she was feeling, either mentally or physically. 

The ride to school was mostly quiet with her father already on the phone to one of his assistants. Fallon and Steven knew not to speak when this was going on. Blake would get mad if they interrupted his phone calls. It was better and easier to stay quiet. The Tylenol had started to help with Fallon’s headache but had done nothing to cure the churning of her stomach or the sore throat. At least she could think clearer now and didn’t feel like her heart was in her head. When they got to school Blake didn’t even look or wave his children off, just let them get out of the car and make their way into the school.

Steven always walked Fallon to her homeroom, then the siblings split off from there. Normally she would use homeroom to finish homework or talk to her friends, but today she just sat at the back of the room with her head on the table, wishing she could be asleep in bed. She didn’t know how she was going to get through the day. By the end of the first period, the Tylenol had worked its way out of her system and her headache was back with a vengeance. It didn’t take her long to decide that instead of going to her second class she was going to go see the school nurse and perhaps get her to call Anders to send someone to pick her up. 

The nurse only took one look at Fallon before instructing her to go lie down on the bed in her office and passing over a sick bowl. By this point Fallon’s body was shaking. Between her head and stomach, she could barely think straight anymore. It was taking all her effort not to pass out or throw up. It seemed that her efforts were in vain as she felt her stomach clench not long after settling on the bed. Knowing what was about to happen she sat up on the bed and brought the sick bowl in front of her, emptying the contents of her stomach into it. 

Fallon was sat hunched over the bowl for a few minutes before she felt like she wasn’t going to throw up again, once she felt slightly better she laid back down on the bed, placing the bowl on the table next to her. Her stomach now felt less upset, but her head was worse. She hadn’t been laying down long before the nurse came back into the room.

“I called your contact, Joseph Anders. He said someone was on their way to pick you up now,” the nurse informed Fallon, looking over at her sympathetically. She felt bad for the Carrington siblings -- they may have had everything material they wanted, but their parents weren’t the most involved.

“I threw up,” Fallon responded, already knowing that it was likely someone from the staff would pick her up after what Anders had told her earlier that morning. The nurse reassuringly rubbed her hand across Fallon’s shoulder then picked up the sick bowl to dispose of it, replacing it with a new one just in case. Fallon desperately wished she were at home, in bed, able to sleep but instead she had to force herself to stay awake until she got home. It wasn’t like the journey to their school was a long one but right now Fallon wished they lived just next door. 

“Fallon, come on, let’s get you home,” Martin, one of their drivers, said to Fallon once he arrived in the nurse’s office. She looked up and smiled. Martin was one of her favourite drivers. He was normally fun to be with in the car and was always there to listen to either Fallon or Steven whenever they needed it. She stood up and made her way over to him, letting him pull her into a quick hug before walking down the corridor towards the car. 

The journey home was quiet, the radio turned down low to not aggravate Fallon’s headache more. She didn’t normally get car sick but today the journey was making her stomach churn again. By the time they arrived home she didn’t know how much longer she could go without throwing up again. Because of this she made her way straight to her room and en suite, locking the door before curling around the toilet, ready. As much as she would have loved to have Alexis or Blake there to comfort her, they weren’t around, as usual, and she didn’t want the staff around. It wasn’t long before her stomach clenched again, causing her to throw up into the toilet. 

Once she was finished, she rinsed her mouth out, brushed her teeth and got a glass of water to slowly drink. She then unlocked her bathroom door and made her way back into her bedroom to have a nap. Hopefully, if she went back to bed, she would be able to sleep whatever this was off. When she walked into her room, she saw Anders standing there. He had brought her some soup with lightly buttered bread, a Mrs. Gunerson special when anyone was sick.

“Thought you might want this. If you don’t want it now that’s fine, call me when you do, and I’ll get it reheated. Here’s some more Tylenol for you, too. Anything else you need?” Anders asked, placing the pills next to water she had put on her bedside table.

“Can you turn the fire on for me and get one of the heating blankets?” Fallon requested. She was cold, the sort of cold you felt in your bones. She knew logically it was probably from a fever but all she wanted was comfort, and being wrapped in heat would help right now.

“Of course, Miss Carrington, I’ll be right back.” Anders replied, leaving the room to go find the heated blankets, something they rarely used living in Atlanta. While he was gone, Fallon went into her closet and found some of her fluffy pyjamas they got every year for Christmas. She never really wore them except Christmas Eve. Once changed, she made her way back into the room, pulling the trolley with food on closer to her bed before climbing in.

When Anders returned, he found her in bed eating the soup he had brought. He smiled; both the Carrington children loved this soup when they were sick. He knew Fallon wasn’t likely to eat much of it but was glad she seemed to have least started to make a dent in it. He walked over to her, plugging the electric blanket in behind the bedside table and setting it on a fairly low setting.

“I’ve set this for you, it should be warm enough. Try not to turn it up too much or else you’ll end up overheating,” Anders informed Fallon, taking the bowl of soup she passed him. He pulled back the covers on her bed, settling the heated blanket round her body, then replacing the covers. Fallon hummed in the appreciation of the warmth. He then walked over to her fireplace and turned it on. 

“Anything else I can do for you?” He asked.

“When are my parents going to be home?” Fallon questioned in response.

“Not till later tonight I’m afraid,” he replied before waiting a beat. Getting no other response from Fallon, he smiled sadly and left her alone, sensing that the young girl only wanted her family right now. That, he couldn’t give her.

Steven arrived home from school before either of his parents were back. Instead of following his normal path to the kitchen to get a snack, he went straight to his sister’s room. He had heard that she had gone home from school sick and had texted her a few times getting no response. He saw why when he entered the room -- she was fast asleep on her bed. Quietly, he made his way over to check on her knowing that she had probably been alone for most of the day. Anders might have checked on her but that would have been it.

Once he got to her side, he saw how flushed her face was, resting his hand against her forehead he felt just how warm she was. Seeing the heated blanket she was wrapped in he knew that he needed to cool her down somehow. He unplugged the blanket and carefully pulled it out from underneath the covers. He then noticed the fire was also turned on; he placed the blanket on the floor then made his way over to the fireplace, turning the key causing the fire to die out. When he looked back he saw his sister’s eyes fluttering open.

“Mom?” She questioned. His heart broke a little. They were both used to their parents not being around too often, but he also knew how much Fallon craved their comfort when she wasn’t feeling well, especially from their mother.

“Sorry, no, it's Steven. I’m no mom but can I keep you company,” he asked knowing that, when sick, his sister was very particular about who was around.

“Of course,” Fallon replied, pushing herself up slightly so she could drink some of the water she had left on the bedside table. Steven walked over to her bed and climbed under the covers and over to Fallon.

“How are you feeling?” He asked, wrapping an arm around her. 

“Little better now I’ve slept,” she replied.

“Good. I know it sucks not having Mom or Dad about, I’m sorry they’re not here,” Steven said, trying to comfort his sister.

“It’s okay. At least I got to sleep.”

* * *

That was the reality for Steven and Fallon growing up, parents never around unless it was convenient for them. Their mom even left completely when their marriage broke down. But now things were different. Steven was living his life in Europe away from all the family stress, and Fallon? Fallon had Liam now. 

* * *

The day had started out like any other. Fallon and Liam were moving round each other both getting ready to go in to work. Liam had meetings about his upcoming book and then in the afternoon had to go into Van Kirk Industries. Ever since he married Fallon his shares in the company increased, and he felt like it was time to take a bigger role. He never wanted to run the company and was happy just advising on certain things. 

Fallon, on the other hand, was balancing all the companies that were involved under the banner of Fallon Unlimited. Her main chunk of time went into the magazine, and every month she spent ages working on each issue getting it to be right; however, this month she had been working overtime. It was the five-year anniversary issue, and everything needed to be absolutely perfect. This had meant instead of at most pulling fifteen-hour days she had been working eighteen to twenty hours each day. Both knew this wasn’t healthy, but any time Liam brought it up, Fallon would get mad and tell him how much work she still had to do.

“What time did you get to bed last night?” Liam asked her as she started on her third cup of coffee that morning.

“I don’t know. Maybe about three? It wasn’t too late,” Fallon replied, having to think hard about the timing.

“Maybe you should take some more time this morning, Fal. You’ve not had a full night's sleep in over a week. You must be exhausted,” Liam tried once again to reason with his wife.

“Liam, you know how much I have to do. The articles aren’t going to magically sort themselves out, and I still have to figure out the front page. The one we shot just doesn’t fit anymore now that I’ve changed the content,” Fallon snapped, pouring the rest of her coffee into a travel mug and grabbing her car keys and bag.

“Okay, sorry I suggested it. Can I least visit you at lunch?” He tried once again to ensure that she at least took a break. 

“Sure, but it won’t be a long one. Have a good day. Love you,” Fallon replied giving Liam a quick kiss before leaving the house for her office. 

Fallon’s morning was hectic. From the moment she sat down at her desk she was working non-stop. No one at the office could seem to get anything right for this issue. She knew that she was being too much of a perfectionist, and anal about it all, but didn’t people understand how important it was to her? It was nearly one o’clock when she finally leaned back in her chair, the front cover finally sorted out. They had planned a new shoot tomorrow, all the content was finally in order and just needed to be edited. For now, Fallon could take a breather before she had to start working again on her streaming service and record company. Why did she think owning so much would be a good idea? 

She picked up her cell, calling Liam to see what time he would be here for lunch. She put him on speaker, laying the phone on the desk in front of her. As she waited for him to pick up, she rubbed her temples to try and ease the headache that she had woken up with, which was slowly getting worse.

“Fallon, what’s up?” Liam asked when he answered his phone.

“Nothing, I was just wondering when you would be here for lunch?” Fallon asked. Coffee had kept her going all morning, but she needed to eat to get some real energy.

“Not long, maybe ten minutes,” Liam replied. It sounded like he was driving so she knew he must be in the car on the way to her office.

“Okay, see you then. Love you,” Fallon said, hovering a finger over the end call button just waiting to see if he would say anything else.

“Love you too.” His response made her smile. She knew that he loved her but hearing it was nice. As Liam said he wouldn’t be long she decided to walk over to the sofa in her office and sit there to wait, answering some emails on her laptop. 

When Liam walked into the office carrying their lunch he stopped and smiled at the sight of his wife. He knew she had been working too hard and this was only proven by her being fast asleep, laptop still open in her lap. Gently he took her laptop, closed it, and placed on her desk before settling on the sofa and pulling Fallon into his lap. She always slept best in his arms. He thought she would at least stir a little at the movement, but she just curled further into him, sighing happily in her sleep. Chuckling softly, he pulled his phone out and rearranged his afternoon meetings. He wanted to spend time with his wife even though he knew she would insist on going back to work once she woke.

Fallon slept for a little over an hour. It was the kind of nap that made you feel disorientated and forget who you were when you woke up. As her eyes fluttered open, she groaned at the intensity of the light; her headache had gotten worse whilst she slept and now she felt sick on top of it.

“Hello there, sleepyhead,” Liam said, hearing Fallon’s groan and knowing she must be awake.

“What time is it?” She asked, pulling her arm over her eyes to try and dim the light.

“A little past two o’clock. You’ve been asleep for an hour or so,” he replied leaning down to kiss her head. He expected her to wake up fully at this and go straight back to work but instead she buried her head into his chest. “Are you okay, Fallon?”

“Can you shut the blinds? My head is pounding, and the light is making it worse,” she mumbled against him. 

Liam sighed. He knew that all the work she had been doing had finally caught up with her body, which was now telling her to slow down. Nevertheless, he got up and pulled the blinds of her windows shut, effectively dimming the light in the room. This caused Fallon to look up at him and mutter a thanks. Taking one look at her pale complexion, he knew this was more than just a headache. Her skin was pale, almost like it had no color in it and her body had a subtle shake going on.

“Do you want to eat?” He asked, sitting back down and pulling her back onto his lap, loving the way she instantly curled up against him.

“No, not really,” she replied. Her stomach was churning, and she felt cold. “Could you grab the blanket from the back of the couch? I’m cold.”

“Are you sure you’re okay, Fallon? You have a fever, at which point you should go home,” Liam questioned her again. The fact she didn’t want to eat or work, and seemed to have a fever, was worrying him. In the whole time they had been together she had never been properly sick. Being a germaphobe really paid off at times.

“Maybe I’m not entirely okay, but I’m used to working through stuff like this. Just need some Tylenol to get rid of the pounding in my head and I’ll be good,” Fallon tried to persuade him. As he made no move to grab the blanket for her, she used his chest to help push herself so she was sitting up and reached to grab it herself. Once she had a hold of it, she wrapped it around her shoulders and leaned against the back of the sofa instead of curling back into Liam’s lap.

“Fallon, please. At least work from home for today and then we can reevaluate,” Liam tried to persuade her. Seeing her sitting up and truly getting a look at her face, he could see she was feeling worse than she was letting on.

“If you’re that worried, stay here eat your lunch then work here and keep an eye on me if you really want to.” Fallon refused to go home. Instead, she pushed herself to her feet and walked over to her desk where she guessed Liam had placed her laptop when he got to her office earlier. Once she reached it, she hesitated before picking it up and making her way back to the sofa to start working again.

Liam sighed, seeing that he was fighting a losing battle so he just pulled his share of the food out of the bag, offering Fallon her drink. She took it, muttering a thanks and placing it next to her whilst she started to work again. Staring at the screen was only making her headache worse, and as the pounding in her head got worse so did the churning of her stomach. Until finally she knew if she didn’t get up and go to the bathroom now she wasn’t going to make it.

As quickly as she could, she threw the blanket off herself and made her way to the private bathroom attached to her office. It was almost as if her body knew the moment she was in front of the toilet as she felt her body heave and empty what little was in there into the toilet. She felt a hand pulling her hair back from her face and another slowly rubbing her back. The comfort that she felt from the simple action instantly made her feel slightly better. 

It was a few minutes before she finally brought her head up from the toilet and leaned back against Liam. The pounding in her head had only seemed to intensify with the action but at least she didn’t feel like she was going to throw up again. As she rested against him, Liam wrapped an arm round her shaking body and started to whisper soothing words into her ear, hoping she would now listen to him and go home.

“I don’t feel great, Liam,” Fallon whispered. Being held by Liam was nice but she really wanted to be at their shared home, curled up in bed. 

“I know, will you let me take you home now?” Liam asked. He was glad that she was finally admitting that she was sick. She nodded in response, and slowly pushed herself up, staggering a little. Liam stood and helped her to the car before going back to gather up their stuff.

The drive home was uneventful. Fallon spent the entire time curled with the blanket on the backseat whilst Liam drove. Whatever bug she had was making her shiver violently and the blanket wasn’t enough for her to get any sort of warmth. When they arrived home, Liam walked round to the back of the car and picked Fallon up, carrying her up to their bedroom. 

“Can I get you anything, Fal?” Liam asked. It scared him a little to see Fallon like this. She was like a shell of who she normally was.

“Comfy clothes, some water and Tylenol would be good,” Fallon replied. 

Liam smiled, going into their closet and pulling out a pair of her pyjamas, leaving her to change whilst he headed to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water and Tylenol from their medicine cupboard. When he made his way back to their room Fallon had changed and gotten herself into bed, her face pressed against his pillow instead of hers. When she noticed him, she sat up, accepting the pills and water and taking them before burying herself back into the sheets. 

“Are you feeling any better yet?” He asked, sitting next to her and running a comforting hand over her hair.

“Not really. Cuddle with me?” It was nice to have someone to comfort her through this. Liam smiled and climbed into the sheets, letting Fallon curl into him.

* * *

The biggest difference between now and the past was that even though she tried to not show weakness, it was okay to. There was always someone there to comfort her and get her what she wanted. Just that alone was enough to make her feel better whenever she got sick.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed this. Just something that came to me one day and I finally got around to writing it. Any thoughts let me know. :)


End file.
